Is it against license to publish Oracle and SQL Server performance test?
database, geospatial, oracle, performance, sql-server
Solution
The standard license you agree to when you download software from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) does state that you're not allowed to disclose benchmarks.
You may not:
<<list of things you cannot do>>
- disclose results of any program benchmark tests without our prior consent.
Microsoft's licenses (such as an older SQL Server 7.0 license) generally have similar terms
Performance or Benchmark Testing. You may not disclose the results of any benchmark test of either the Server Software or Client Software for Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange Server, or Microsoft Proxy Server to any third party without Microsoft's prior written approval.
Most other large companies put similar terms in their license agreements. Whether those license terms are actually enforcable as a matter of law in your case (particularly where this is an academic exercise) and whether either company would ever seriously consider suing over the publication of a Masters thesis is something that you would need to discuss with your university's legal department (and/or the legal department of whoever owns the licenses for the software that you're using). As a practical matter, I would think it's extraordinarily unlikely that either company would ever seriously consider suing a masters student with no money over unfavorable benchmark results. Bloggers and conference presenters publish benchmark results all the time in forums that are much more likely to attract (or repel) potential customers and aren't sued.
Problem
I would like to make a performance test on spatial index in Oracle and SQL Server. I would like to include it in my Master of Science work. Is it against dbms's license to publish that kind of results ? Maybe someone have already met that kind of problem ? I am not keen on digging through boring license stuff ;).